Best of Marvel: Week of September 18th, 2019

Best of this Week: House of X #5 – Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles

The X-Men have conquered their greatest enemy: Death.

After the events of the last issue, it was a wonder just how Hickman would write the X-Men out of the predicament that has stopped them so many times before. In the standard Hickman way, he made retcons that enhanced the usefulness of lesser characters and provided a way out that not only makes sense, but can be used for just about anything in regards to all of our favorite dead mutants.

In House of X #1, one of the first things we see is Charles Xavier meeting the reborn forms of Scott Summers and Jean Grey as full adults after they emerge from egg sacs of some kind. Initially, I thought that this was just some sort of strange symbolic rebirth thing and while it still is, it has become far more literal and intriguing because of five mutants – Goldballs, Elixir, Hope Summers, Proteus and Tempus.

Goldballs had one of the dumbest powers for the longest time; the ability to propel golden balls from his chest, but in this book we learn that these balls were actually non-viable eggs that, with the help of Proteus, could be made usable. After they’re injected with mutant DNA and given life by Elixir, Tempus ages the eggs to maturity and thanks to Hope’s powers, all of them operate at peak efficiency. This allows the mutants to effectively resurrect their dead friends as husks until Xavier implants mind engrams into the bodies with their past memories.

Everything about this scene was immaculate and well done to a point where I almost want to cry. What coloring there was felt low and hushed, almost as if we were seeing something miraculous, the gift of light. Camera angles were mostly downwards, to capture the harmony of the group before they began their work. They stood silent and acted on instinct, indicating they’d done this before, showing us that they were absolutely sure of their process.

Xavier leaning down, cradling his children and asking them to not die again as it kills a part of him every time that they do is heart wrenching, but joyous when he gives them their memories back. There’s no hesitation, only love, only care.

The gravity of the event as it happens and seeing someone like Goldballs become one of the most integral mutants in the revival of the mutant race brought me to an unknown level of joy. There was so much weight to their actions with the excellent narration by Magneto as to what exactly they were doing while talking to Polaris, making the point that when they are apart, they are still strong mutants, but together they are even more powerful than previously imagined.

This message also acts as a bit of foreshadowing for the end of the book and as the theme for this issue as a whole; the idea of togetherness, something that the human race has denied mutants for all of their existence.

I’m almost certain they used the exact same pages from House of X #1 as we watch the resurrection of the dead team, but this time we have a whole new perspective of how we got there. In an absolutely beautiful celebration of life, we see the mutants of Krakoa praise the Five for bringing their mutant family back to life and a confirmation of those mutants by Storm. Under the purple leaves of a tree of Krakoa with a bit of sunlight shining through. Purple usually symbolizes nobility, passion and authenticity and with the use of dynamic angles and heroic posing, we can be absolutely sure that these are the same mutants.

Angel, Husk, Mystique, Monet, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Jean Grey all died to ensure that the Mother Mold didn’t come online and destroy the mutant race. In two nine panel grids, Storm greets hew newly reborn friends, questioning how she knows that it’s truly them. After they give their answers from the somber to the cocky to the… Monet, Storm asks what they are and the crowd answers with one word: Mutant.

The level of solidarity among the mutants is inspiring, the love and pride they have in themselves in infections and makes me want to see them do nothing but succeed. However, I do have something of a concern with the level of reverence they seem to be getting. As they walk naked down the stairs to interact with their fellow mutants, the other mutants reach their hands out at them as the sun shines brightly behind them. They seem as saviors, messiahs, people standing above their fellows and that’s a potentially dangerous path for them to go down, especially since Krakoa is performing so well and don’t need egos to ruin it.

On top of their resurrections, Xavier and Emma Frost are also trying to get the world’s governments to accept Krakoa’s pharmaceuticals and accept the Mutant Utopia as an independent nation. With a few notable exceptions from Russia, Latveria and Wakanda (among a few other countries that also would not accept Mutants or their cure alls) most of the world is very into the prospect of life giving drugs in exchange for giving mutants diplomatic immunity and recognition.

In many ways, this is the progress that they have always strived for. Some people aren’t reticent to their acts of kindness out of ideological differences, but others see the benefit of siding with the new Nation as long as they can see the benefits. They may be alliances of necessity or fear, but the point still stands that their autonomy is being recognized. They’re not being actively hunted, at least since Orchis was stopped from activating the Mother Mold and with their population in the cusp of becoming what it was in the past, they are flourishing and don’t NEED human support, but they find it better that they receive it.

With the world coming together for mutants, there’s only one more group left to truly unite the houses: The Villains. In my opinion, most of House of X has been leading up to this, the day when even mutant villains will come in full support of Xavier’s new mission to save the race and there are some nasty ones here: Mister Sinister, Lady Mastermind, Mesmero, Selene, Sebastian Shaw, Emplate, Exodus, Gorgon, Black Tom Cassidy and Azazel.

But these villains pale in comparison to the final arrival in Apocalypse. In more than one way, Apocalypse’s dream has finally come to fruition as well. Mutants have risen above and finally become the dominant species that he always believed they could be. They have evolved past their petty and weak natures and embraced their strength in both numbers and power. With Krakoa welcoming him with some lovely birds, Apocalypse speaks on behalf of all of the evil mutants when he says that they will obey the laws of Krakoa as they are written and cements this new alliance with a handshake with Charles Xavier.

This blew my mind. Apocalypse’s whole deal was that he would absolutely destroy the weakness in the mutant gene pool and was only able to do so with Charles Xavier dead in the Age of Apocalypse timeline. He tore the world asunder, but as we learned from one of Moira MacTaggert’s past lives, even this would not have lasted. If Moira’s been in contact with Apocalypse, then he too knows that following Xavier right now is the only true path to mutant evolution and supremacy.

I have never been so elated, surprised and anticipating of a comic in so long.

Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia are a match made in heaven and this book has a cinematic quality through and through. Larraz allows the characters to appear overjoyed, happy and proud with beautiful facial expressions. With faraway shots and ever changing angles in the panels, there’s such a grandeur in the story being told. The sun is always shining in this particular issue, much like it was in House of X #1, signaling a brand new day and bright future for mutantkind.

Gracia’s colors are bright and vibrant, emanating with a hopeful glow. Their lighting effects are on JJ Abrams levels of shiny and somehow The Five characters stand out apart from the clothes that they used to wear. Tempus’ blue pops out perfectly against Goldballs gold and black. The purple of the tree leaves in the Confirmation is absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring and the darkness during Apocalypse’s arrival set against the shining God rays is the perfect contrast.

I have never been more proud to be a fan of the X-Men. Knowing their history of death and rebirth, it’s relieving to see that they now have the means to finally conquer their mortal enemy. There’s so many that can be brought back to life (provided their deaths haven’t already been retconned). John Proudstar, the original Thunderbird, Jamie Madrox, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Sean Cassidy, Blindfold and many others that either died so long ago or died at the hands of Matthew Rosenberg’s Uncanny X-Men.

House of X has gone above and beyond and rejuvenated a portion of the Marvel Universe that has been a chaotic mess for the better part of almost 20 years by this point. There’s finally unity amongst all of the mutants in the Universe, from 90s villains to even recent ones from Brian Michael Bendis’ run.

Jonathan Hickman is proving that almost anything he touches turns to gold as he’s crafted an amazing tale in only nine issues, counting Powers of X as well. I find myself, for the first time in a long time, not just going through the motions. I feel as though I’m witnessing a revolution occurring, an actual brand new era for some of my favorite super people.

The series is set to conclude in about three weeks for X-Men #1 and I am already so very excited. Highest of recommends.

What are we? Mutants.

Best of Marvel: Week of July 24th, 2019

Best of this Week: House of X #1 – Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles

“You have new Gods now.” – Erik Lehnsherr, 2019

The new era of X-Men is here and for all of its familiarity, it does something new and sort of unsettling with a tried and true formula. This is thanks to the beauty and scale of Larraz’s art and the far and wide nature with which Jonathan Hickman is crafting yet another saga to rival both his SHIELD and Avengers runs. If you let it, House of X will engulf you in a rich new mutant world filled with happiness and untold amounts of pride by it end, but also with a good helping of fear… as if everything is just a little bit off.

The book begins with a great wide shot of a figure staring up at what appears to be the root of or at least some important part of a tree. Two other figures, a woman with red hair and a man with glowing eyes, are birthed from two sacs under the tree and we get the familiar line, “To me, my X-Men. Presumably, this is Charles Xavier and as we progress, this idea is made clear as it seems we are doing away with the “X” identity he took up during Astonishing X-Men (2018). This also serves as some clear symbolism of a new rebirth for the X-Men.

Over the next few panels, we are shown shots of various X-Men planting flowers, plucked from the island of Krakoa, in various areas from their home in Westchester, New York to Mars, the moon and the Savage Land. The book is then framed around Magneto and two of the Stepford Cuckoos giving ambassadors from various countries a tour of the various locales that Krakoa has been placed upon as they ponder Charles’ proposed deal. This deal would allow them to make use of the flowers of Krakoa for various medicinal purposes, possibly making the world a much better place, so long as they agree to recognizing the sovereignty of the Krakoa nation state. A new Haven for Mutantkind.

Of course there have been such efforts made in the past. Genosha, the first and most prominently mentioned example, is alluded to have been the catalyst for humankind not being taken over by the mutant X gene. Mutantkind apparently would have become the dominant race on the planet Earth within ten years if not for Genosha’s destruction. Asteroid M and Utopia weren’t mentioned, but my guess is that they simply weren’t as impactful in regard to mutant kind likely because of the events of House of M (2005) dwindling their numbers to nothing. As it stands now, after the implementation of Krakoa spiking the birth rates to much higher than previously calculated, that humanity has about 20 years left.

These estimations are made by a brand new organization known as The Orchis Protocol, a network built for the purpose of monitoring evolutionary anomalies and preparing a doomsday protocol in case humanity is threatened by Homo Superior. The organization apparently consists of ex assets from practically all major organizations in the Marvel Universe from AIM, SHIELD and Hydra to even Hammer, Alpha Flight and SWORD. Some of Larraz’s best shots are in the scenes where we’re introduced to this mysterious group. They pilot a ship towards the sun and we get a good shot of the outside of a portion of their space station as they dock their ship.

Karima, an Omega Sentinel character that hasn’t been seen since sometime after Second Coming (2010) accompanies an Orchis higher up as they talk about the state of absolutely giant station so close to the sun. We get a bit of a tour before we get the best and most ominous shot of the full station. It appears to be the head of MASTER MOLD surrounded by hexagonal plates, the most terrifying shape in all of fiction. Master Mold hasn’t been really seen since about 1994, and again in 2010 because of universe jump in Second Coming. Master Mold was one of the X-Men’s most dangerous threats for it ability to produce sentinels at a rapid rate, so there’s no way that this can mean anything good.

Cutting back to New York, Mystique, Sabretooth and Toad are stealing information from the Damage Control Database. Mystique and Toad manage to get away, but Creed is captured by Invisible Woman and the rest of the Fantastic Four. Scott Summers shows up to remind them of the amnesty that’s apparently been granted to mutants, including thieves and possible killers like Sabretooth. Scott and, normally even tempered, Reed butt heads a little bit as Reed has a problem with Sabretooth getting away with his crimes and Scott acquiesces, seeing that Reed is serious. Scott does leave them with one sick burn as he tells Reed and Sue that Franklin has actual family on Krakoa when he’s ready.

What I love best about this scene is just how smug Reed is about all of this. For years, mutants have tried to stay out of the affairs of the greater Superhero world out of fear for their reputations. The shoe is on the other foot now that they have all of the leverage and the power that they so deserve. Even more awesomely, Scott’s new costume is a fantastic design combining the best of his Astonishing costume with the angular design of his Uncanny X-Men costume, minus the X mask, with blue lines instead of red.

Speaking of colors, Marte Gracia excelled in this regard. There’s so much symbolism to be gleaned from something as simple as a color change. Cyclops wore that suit in a red hue when he was a violent radical; having it recolored blue gives off the hint that he’s still a radical, but in the way that he dealt with the situation between Reed, he’s more hands off, non-violent even. Magneto normally wears red and purple when he’s angry and evil and gray during the AXIS (2015) era and that alluded to his anti-hero nature during that time. This go around he’s wearing white. He’s also peaceful, but at the same time he’s as graceful and imposing as he always has been, never betraying the idea that he is still the same man, but won’t harm anyone as long as they respect mutants. The most glaring example is the change in color from the AIM scientists where they’re wearing red instead of yellow.

In between each different scene we’re given these little interludes in the form of documents called Xavier files. These give some background on the new elements introduced in the book and the best one is the Omega Level file. There have been hundreds of mutants introduced over the years, many of which could have been considered Omega Level mutants, but thanks to Hickman’s expert writing, things have been parsed down to just fourteen. On Twitter, he stated that the X-Men lore was nothing but chaos, so he wrote a 14,000 word memo on what the new status quo would be, including limiting the use of the term “Omega Level.” This undoubtedly helps to establish something of a power structure given the high number of mutants that are known about while also acknowledging other heroes. Notably, while Forge is a master of technopathy, his level has been surpassed by humans in the past, but Magneto is the only master of Magnetism.

I want to bring things back to the tour. After it is over, several of the ambassadors agree to support Xavier. Russia’s ambassador never had intentions too, neither did one of the representatives of STRIKE as he was simply assigned to watch another ambassador. The last ambassador had a weapon hidden and Magneto immediately dismantles it and promises to each of them that things will be different. He wants them to tell their superiors that while Charles made the offer out of grace and love, it is NOT a negotiation.

Magneto takes pride in this. So much so that his assurance and steadfastness in his stance is powerful. It moved me. He tells them to be grateful for the bounty they’re receiving out of graciousness as mutants, like Thanos, are inevitable. It’s like he can actually see a future, one not shrouded in darkness for mutants and he’s smiling because he knows it’s coming.

This is one of the more interesting aspects of the book. Charles Xavier had always wanted to coexist with humanity, but after years of divisions and attacks, he seems to mostly be done with that. He’s willing to give humanity Krakoa’s flowers to make pills that will help them as long as they leave mutants alone. He’s effectively made something that will definitely topple the pharmaceutical market and he has to know that humanity would start to get very afraid. Not only that, but Krakoa has the ability to create portals that can move mutants from place to place without humans being able to track where they’re going. Of course the ambassadors are afraid of the use they could have as far as movement and positioning in case things went to war, but Magneto assures them that it is only them that wants war.

Everything seems perfect. Everything seems like it’s going to be alright, but that helmet… something about that helmet and the bodysuit reminds me of The Maker, another Jonathan Hickman creation from his turn on The Ultimates. It scares me and I needed that, I needed something to keep me hooked and the fear that everything is not as it seems is just that.

House of X hit the ground running. While it does little to acknowledge the fantastic Uncanny X-Men run from Matthew Rosenberg, that’s probably for the best. Jonathan Hickman does his best work when he has a fresh slate. He took over Avengers from Brian Michael Bendis and made an amazing story over the course of nearly four years. He reinvigorated SHIELD and the Fantastic Four with innovative stories that had nothing to do with the books prior to them. Hell, the reverberations of his runs on each of these are still being felt to this day.

Pepe Larraz was possibly the absolute best artist to capture Hickman’s vision for this project. His high angles and wide shots give credence to the size of the story. His facial expressions give into the idea that mutants have won this time, there’s hope where previously there was none. Body language surprisingly upbeat, bouncy even. There’s a lot to say about symbolism in terms of sun positioning in many scenes. The book has many showing the sun rising, symbolically showing a rise for the mutants. I see Orchis base near the sun as an allegory for Icarus flying too close to it. As the book ends with a sunset over Jerusalem, I see things as the sun setting on the time of humanity.

X-Men and their vast history is absolutely ripe for fine tuning if not complete destruction only for it to be made bigger and better in the years to come. I have no idea where this story is going and with 80,000 spin-offs incoming with a bunch of different creative teams, there will absolutely be something for everyone. In an attempt to revitalize a part of the world that used to sell like gangbusters, Jonathan Hickman is gearing up to shoot the X-Men right back up to the moon and light the world on fire behind them.